Mission Foggyday Streets

It was a typical San Francisco summer’s day (foggy and overcast even in the Mission District) but that didn’t stop folks from coming out to Mission Sunday Streets. The lack of sun must have made people more sullen as this time the stories we heard reflected changes in the neighborhood and the complex feelings that come with these changes.

• “I was living on my income as a substitute teacher and a makeup artist, and it was already a little stretch to pay the rent. Now I keep tabs on the rising rent costs of living in the Mission. It makes me very sad that there is very little or no affordable housing left in this neighborhood (unless you snagged a place over ten years ago and have rent control)…It makes me sad that the original occupants of this neighborhood are outpriced and the workers can’t even afford to pay to live with their families in the neighborhood.”

• “Our building is being sold for the 4th time in 3 years. Our latest owners are investors…they are evicting all of us to make way for Valencia’s new patrons. Our building has…a senior with disabilities, two public school teachers, a General Hospital nurse and a couple with a baby.”

• “It’s gotten a lot cleaner but I have mixed feelings. The pace of gentrification has been extreme. On the other hand I can still come here at 3am and get a burrito for $4.50. There is still an electric feeling in the neighborhood”